Falcons levelled matters midway through the first period, Joel Hodgson slotting over after a Tigers offside.

And the visitors could have taken the lead, were it not for Youngs’ tremendous try-saving tackle on Vereniki Goneva after the Fijian broke down the right, and the home side mounted a stout defence of their line to push the Falcons back.

This resistance was rewarded, with Burns kicking another simple penalty to re-establish the Tigers’ advantage, before Genge dotted down in added time, Burns missing the conversion.

Wilson was shown the yellow card minutes into the second period after the referee deemed he repeatedly collapsed the scrum.

And good work by Youngs moments later allowed Veainu to cross in the right corner to extend the home side’s advantage. Burns added the extra points with an impressive conversion from out wide.

Falcons were dealt a hammer blow while still down to 14 men, when Genge dotted down for the second time in the afternoon following fine work from both Ben and Tom Youngs, and Dan Cole. Burns added the extras to make it 25-3.

It seemed a long way back for a spirited Falcons side, who applied heavy pressure on the Leicester backline as they looked for a route back into the contest.

Tough day today. Thank you to our amazing away supporters for your backing, and well done to our friends @LeicesterTigers on the win.